Heavy snow caused significant disruption at airports in Britain and Germany on Sunday 5 January, with numerous delays at airports, particularly in Manchester, Liverpool, Frankfurt and Munich.
In the north of England, Manchester Airport reopened its runways mid-morning. “But departures and arrivals may still be delayed as our teams de-ice planes and clear pathways”the airport said on X. Liverpool reopened its runway and advised passengers to contact their airlines due to delays. Leeds Airport hopes to reopen its runway by midday. Traffic has resumed at Birmingham (Central) and Bristol (West) airports, where the runways had been closed overnight.
At Frankfurt, Germany's largest airport, located in the west of the country, 120 takeoffs and landings were canceled out of around 1,090 scheduled for Sunday. “The take-off and landing runways must be cleared” And “airplane de-icing is also more complex and more demanding”explained a spokesperson to Agence France-Presse. Poor visibility in the sky also disrupts air traffic.
In Munich, in the south of the country, 35 flights were canceled as a precaution on Saturday evening, out of a total of 750 scheduled departures and landings at Germany's second largest airport, according to a spokesperson. The German weather office warned of freezing rain on Sunday after snowfall overnight, and recommended avoiding unnecessary travel.
Traffic disrupted on the roads
Several centimeters of snow fell in England and Wales overnight from Saturday to Sunday. In West Yorkshire (northern England), the ground was covered with 12 centimeters of snow on Sunday morning, the British Meteorological Agency said. Met Office. Up to 40 centimeters of snow fell in some areas above 300 meters above sea level.
Snow also affects traffic on the roads. The operator National Highways said several roads in northern England were closed overnight. In Hampshire (southern England), part of the northbound motorway was closed on Sunday morning due to flooding due to snow that fell overnight, National Highways said. This operator has warned that several roads could now freeze.
At least one train line in the Leeds region in the North has been closed. Electricity was also cut to several homes in England and Wales. The situation is expected to improve during the day on Sunday in several regions of England, according to the Met Office. However, warnings for flood risks have been issued.
Source: Lemonde